even though i recognize its racist i laughed at the word chinamen. i think we're conditioned to see chinese/asian people as funny little inferiors. and the asian accent of english always invokes a notion of unintelligence. its the way we were brought up as westerners. maybe in case of a war with an asian country? its much easier to hate/kill people who are different. i do notice a lot of asian jokes in the media whereas other races are protected by the standards of what is and isnt politically correct.

but i do recognize why this would hurt an asian person. i would be pissed if i saw "chinaman" because it makes it sound like your less than a regular person. its a racial slur.

but instead of just blacklisting these slurs and being politically correct (which is just ignoring and denial) i feel we need to consciously work through these issues and be honest about it. theres still an asian sterotype of a bucktoothed person with a straw hat. its not right, but its reinforced everywhere.

Y'all are pretty sensitive Americamen. I refuse to apoligize for saying Chinamen, it is not a racist or derogitory term, it's no worse than saying Dutchmen or Englishmen in my books, it's just "men" from "China". I certainly didn't intend it as racist. But if everybody is going to get sand in their... craws about this, fine, I won't call Yao Ming a Chinaman ever again.